Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

46 reviews

thejazziestbean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

this book was very informative and it gave a huge insight into how an immigrant child’s life is affected by the government of their nations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Racism, Police brutality, War, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Hate crime, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Colonisation, Gore, Vomit, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, Abortion, Mass/school shootings, Infidelity, Child death, and Classism

rieviolet's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

3.5

I'll preface this review by saying that it's only recently that I've started reading graphic novels, so I'm still getting used to this particular mode of narration. The book deals with very heavy and interesting themes (the impact of war on a national and personal level, displacement, intergenerational trauma etc.) but I feel like the brevity inherent to the graphic novel mode did them a disservice and there wasn't enough narrative space to develop them. I also admit that I know just the bare minimum about the war in Vietnam and its aftermath, and that a deeper knowledge on my part would have helped me to follow better and to integrate the author's storytelling.

I have to be honest and say that I wasn't really into the graphic and colouring style, and it took me some time to get used to it. I found it perfectly funtional when it came to telling the story, but I wasn't blown away. 

This graphic novel is still a solid work, it just didn't fully meet the high  

expectations I had built for myself after hearing all the reviews of praise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Medical content, War, and Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Grief, Racism, and Death

Minor: Mental illness, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Medical trauma, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Miscarriage, Infidelity, and Fire/Fire injury

drraytay's review against another edition

informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Death, Child death, Rape, Abandonment, War, Colonisation, and Miscarriage

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

bmw2024's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, War, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Gun violence, and Death

nitar8's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, War, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Classism, Abandonment, Death, and Miscarriage

paigehf's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy and Miscarriage

Moderate: Death, Child death, Child abuse, and War

Minor: Racism

njh_books's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Artwork is great.

The events flip back and forth between different time periods and adds to the story as Bui learns more about her parents’ and her own past while also trying to determine what it means for her present. 

Heartbreaking but also hopeful. The last scene with the son is truly thought provoking and beautiful.

My knowledge of Vietnam improved with this story as often events were discussed that I then looked into on my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Colonisation, Child death, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Medical content, Death, Xenophobia, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage

lprongs's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Death, Miscarriage, and War

Minor: Xenophobia, Vomit, Racial slurs, and Racism

skeltzer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child death

cecilie_who_reads's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

A story of survival, endurance and plans thwarted by the casual arrogance of several warring parties, told without self pity and in neutral tones. This graphic chronicle follows tells and shows the stories of Thi Bui's parents. As for the emotions, it tells about Thi Bui's reactions to this, but does not beg the reader to feel the same way.
But her parents as children and young people are so well conveyed that you feel it could be you. The lack of safety, the repeated chock of having all plans overturned, sneaks in on you in your armchair. It invites the reader (and, as Thi Bui says, her own self too) to renewed respect for the survivors, even those that spend their days in a dark room, grumpy and unapproachable for apparently no reason.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Domestic abuse, Death, War, Miscarriage, and Abandonment

Minor: Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, Vomit, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs

Starvation, persecution, and hiding alone in the darkness in small spaces are also part of the story. Read it, but hold someone's hand.